A solid mid-week shift from Sayan.
Guardian Cryptic 27,060 by Crucible
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27060.
Guardian Quiptic 890/Anto
Apologies for the late blog. There are several clues that I couldn’t parse, so help is welcome. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = … Read more >>
Guardian 27,059 / Rufus
A bit of a mixed bag from Rufus today. Many of the clues show his characteristic elegance but about half of the cryptic definitions are barely so and I have a couple of … Read more >>
Independent 9405/Punk
I haven’t had a Punk to blog for ages, so I was pleased to see his name come up in the Monday slot, because I like his puzzles. Cars were the theme … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 587 Offstage epiphany
Not the trickiest of solves this time, and as usual full of topical references. There were still a few that I struggled over such as WRAITH and PARALYSE so a nice one. Across 6 … Read more >>
Genius 161 / Soup
Well, the instructions told us that “The solution indicated by the wordplay in each of the 26 clues is lacking a required letter. Each letter of the alphabet is missing from a particular … Read more >>
Everyman 3,660
The hardest thing when blogging an Everyman is finding something to say in the preamble. There is seldom anything to quibble about in the clues and errors are even rarer. Today is no … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1398/Hypnos
This must be the most difficult IoS puzzle I’ve solved/blogged for a long time. It took me three goes to get it to lie down, whereas normally I’m done and dusted before getting … Read more >>
AZED 2,321
Another enjoyable and educational tour of the forgotten corners of the English language with Azed as the guide.
Independent 9404 by Serpent
Sorry for the late delivery of this blog. Completely forgot it was my turn. I will have to work out how to wire my smoke alarm to the calendar alerts. We may be … Read more >>
Guardian 27,052 / Philistine
A good fun prize puzzle from Philistine … … with a theme of BOTTOMs. We were both a bit confused about the rubric, which says: Six 5 solutions are not further defined The … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1253: Famous Last Words by Kcit
Kcit’s puzzles range from the relatively straightforward to the definitely difficult, and you don’t know which it will be until about 30 minutes into the solve. His recent Listener, A Bit Up in … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,413 by GURNEY
A nice easy puzzle from GURNEY to reset the balance for FT puzzles this week. Good for beginners on cryptic grids. Thanks Gurney for the enjoyable distraction this Friday morning.
Guardian 27,057 / Pan
Pan seems to have a regular place in the cryptic slot now, while still supplying Monday quiptics. This is a well crafted puzzle with a good variety of clue types, presented with some … Read more >>